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Michaela Paukner:

Welcome to the No-Till Farmer podcast, brought to you by Yetter Farm Equipment. I'm Michaela Paukner, managing editor at No-Till Farmer. In today's episode, technology editor, Noah Newman talks to Bryan Sievers, an Illinois no-tiller who broke the 100 bushel barrier with non-GMO soybeans.

Noah Newman:

First, tell me about your operation a little bit. Just the basics, how acres where you're located, crops, those kinds of things.

Bryan Severs:

Okay. Atomic Illinois, east Central Illinois. We farm corn and soybeans and we farm around 5,000 acres and it's me and my two sons farm together. My grandpa and my dad and now me, so the third generation, but we don't own a whole lot. We basically cash rent, so we own a little. But yeah, so we've been farming for some of the same landlords for three generations.

Noah Newman:

Now how long have you guys been no-tilling. Are you a 100% no-till or just partially?

Bryan Severs:

We are a hundred percent no-till on the soybeans and we strip till our corn. So that's close to no-till.

Noah Newman:

All right. Now, do you remember when you guys first started no-tilling, what the motivation was behind it?

Bryan Severs:

Getting things done in a timely manner than having to work all those acres. If I was guessing, I'd say around 2013 would be pretty close for 10 years, more or less.

Noah Newman:

Yeah. Got you.

Bryan Severs:

The strip tilling hasn't been doing that long, but the no-till beans has. Yes.

Noah Newman:

Now, were there any challenges when you first started no-tilling that you could think of? What was the biggest learning curve?

Bryan Severs:

Buying equipment that would do it better, trying to do a good job on the planter, etc. That was a big challenge for us, making... Not a lot of people were doing it, and so learning from people that I trust, whether that be a dealer or a farmer that was also doing it at the time.

Noah Newman:

What kind of planter is it and then what are some unique features on it?

Bryan Severs:

Okay. It's a John Deere DB60 that plants beans, and I got a John Deere DB80 that I plant corn with. It's a 40-foot planter, 15 inch, so it's 32, yeah, 15 inch row planter, 32 row, 1790 John Deere. Both of them have precision all over them. Basically from the down force to the tri-sweepers to the units basically spiked closing wheels. On the beans we use a heavier duty spike than I do on the strip-till bar, so the cast ones. I also, with my strip-till corn, I apply a starter fertilizer through a Keaton basically in the row and that three gallons. Then I also put 20 gallons of 32 on two by two on the side of the pandas.

Noah Newman:

Got you. Then what's your highest soybean yield that you've ever had?

Bryan Severs:

We had 102 on a twenty-acre plot once.

Noah Newman:

Wow. What year was that?

Bryan Severs:

Two years ago.

Noah Newman:

So you're in the one hundred-bushel club. So let's jump into that field, I guess. If you could just want to take me through the process, starting from harvest the previous year of just how you got that field ready and what you had to do to prepare it throughout the season to get to the hundred bushels.

Bryan Severs:

Sure. I mean we don't work it obviously even with the accelerator or anything. So basically we don't apply fall chemicals, so we have all non-GMO beans also. So in that plot, basically we use residual chemicals up front with the burn down, and then we use [inaudible 00:04:15], which is, and all sorts of other chemicals together in our mix. Now we use fungicide, priaxor and we use a product that has some nitrogen and a little potash in it too. We do use some trigger movers in that. We spray it plenty of times. We sprayed that one plenty of times. Now across the board. Basically, we do fungicide on everything, along with our chemicals on the third pass and insecticide. We do use some sugar movers and for lack of a better word, snake oil on some.

We do see some results occasionally when mother nature cooperates and sometimes it's hard to get mother nature to cooperate. We don't have anything irrigated obviously, so we need her to help cooperate. But the no-till has, I mean, originally I think I said this, the reason we went to it was for labor purposes. We just couldn't get across to all those acres and work around and chisel it and everything else. That was the reason we started it. Then after that, basically the reason was it works.

We do spend more money in chemicals than a lot of people. We do that, basically because of non-GMO. But if we were just using Roundup ready stuff or whatever, we would still... We would use the less chemicals. But for non-GMOs, we have to use a little bit different story. You'd be hard-pressed to find my fields next to anybody else's because you take pride in our weed control. But that's many trips across the field too.

Noah Newman:

What would you say is the biggest key to weed control?

Bryan Severs:

Taking care of your corn. So doing the right thing in corn, putting residuals in corn and spraying them three times. That goes a long ways to having a clean bean field. So in other words, you got to take care of your corn field first, so for the next year, you don't have any weeds in your corn and you don't have any weeds in your beans. A lot of people, I think a lot of people just making one pass, no residuals and things like that, and they have watched them, non-GMO people end up quitting non-GMOs because they can't keep the weeds under control. But to me it's timing and using chemicals that work and residuals are number one. So you can't have a clean bean field without having a clean corn field to begin with, the year before.

Noah Newman:

Well said. Well said. Yeah. Yeah. Some of the other people I've interviewed, you're the first person that uses non-GMO soybeans. So what's the biggest difference for you, for someone using non-GMO soybeans? What are some of the unique challenges you have to deal with that other people don't have to consider?

Bryan Severs:

Sure, sure. We have to clean out everything. When we go from corn to soybeans when we're combining, of course, you got trucks, you got bugger carts, you got the combine. It takes basically 24 hours. I mean, it takes a whole day to clean everything out, to go from one to the other and make sure you don't have anything hidden in the corners and things like that. That's a big thing. Paying attention to the weeds, not just, I mean, us spraying our own, that's what helps us a lot. Ain't nothing against the fertilizer company, but when you're taking care of your own stuff and don't have to take care of 20 different farmers at the same time, Non-GMOs are hard to control, hard to control the weeds. You got to stay on top of that, that and cleaning everything out. It's a pain, but it's worth it in the end.

It's the reward in the end that makes everything better. I get tested when they go to the elevator, to our end user and it has to pass. Can't have any LibertyLink, can't have any GMO products in it. So they test the beans and you don't want it to fail because then you don't get premium, then you have to go dump it in a regular elevator. So cleaning out of everything is very important. Cleaning out of chemicals too. I mean, when we go spraying from corn to soybeans, we have to clean out the sprayers to make sure we don't kill our beans. So that's another major thing. So yeah, technically it is cleaning the sprayer too.

So it's cleaning everything. When you come down to it, you clean the green bin that you put it in, make sure there's no anything left over because one bean can get you rejected. Oh wow. Then we obviously leave five foot around the borders of our neighbor's beans that are planting next to us because we can't take a chance of them grabbing any of their beans. So then we go back later and combine that, take that to the elevator at the end of the year basically. So there's a lot of attention. It's a high maintenance type of thing to achieve that goal of a hundred percent non-GMO beans. So it just takes a lot of work, but it's worth it in the end when you get that premium.

Noah Newman:

When did you-

Bryan Severs:

Makes a good marketer out of you when you get a premium.

Noah Newman:

I'm sure. When did you start growing non-GMO and what was your big motivation for it?

Bryan Severs:

2013 and big motivation would be price is the fact that you're going to get the premium. So that's kind of the motivator that took us to it the first time. That's what my dad grew many years ago before Roundup come out. So I knew it could be done, so that's why we took the chance and tried to figure it out.

Noah Newman:

Oh, it's all worked out, I'd say. You said you spray it a lot. So what are the exact details and the timings of the spray? How do you do that?

Bryan Severs:

Okay, so after the plant rolls through the field the first time, that's when the fungicide and the residuals go on. Then 21 days, and this is old school, but 21 days after emergence, we spray contact killers and a little bit of residual in there as well. Then after that, we'd have the fungicide pass and then with the nitrogen and potash.

Noah Newman:

Oh, okay. So you only applied nitrogen and potash to the field one time?

Bryan Severs:

Yes. Yep. That's all we're doing right now. Yes. Yeah, but it's all liquid. We do put potash on the field in the fall. After harvest, we apply the potash to the field. We split our fertilizer applications because with the strip-till we're putting it in the row for the corn, and then basically we fertilize for each crop.

Noah Newman:

Do you know what rate of fertilizers you use?

Bryan Severs:

It depends. We soil test, so we variable rate our potash across the acres from the corn stalks, standing corn stalks, sometimes zero, sometimes two-fifty across there. So we utilize soil testing to only apply what we need instead of over-applying by any stretch of the imagination, especially with fertilizer costs the way they have been in the past.

Noah Newman:

Oh yeah. Yeah, those have been definitely high costs. So the high-yielding soybean field, was that corn the previous year?

Bryan Severs:

Yes, that's correct. Yes.

Noah Newman:

Okay. Do you use any cover crops with that?

Bryan Severs:

No, we don't. We are experimenting with that at present time. Cover crops in our operation, for lack of a better word. It's just hard to get across to all the acres to do all of it. I am a board member of Illinois Soybean Association and I'm trying cover crops. This would be my second year of it. So we are trying some, but in that case it did not have cover crops on it in that field. Yeah, did not.

Noah Newman:

What kind of hybrid was it?

Bryan Severs:

They were pioneer. My guess would be without going back and looking record, it was 33 T60s.

Noah Newman:

What was your seeding rate for that field?

Bryan Severs:

That was 140,000.

Noah Newman:

140,000. Okay. Then do you remember the harvest population?

Bryan Severs:

I mean you say 130, probably 135 would be my guess, because they all don't come up. You know that.

Noah Newman:

Yeah.

Michaela Paukner:

I'd like to take a moment to thank our sponsor, Yetter Farm Equipment. Yetter is your answer for success in the face of ever-changing production agriculture challenges. Yetter offers a full lineup of planter attachments designed to perform in varying planting conditions. Yetter products maximize your inputs, save you time, and deliver return on your investment. Visit them at yetterco.com, that's Y-E-T-T-E-R-C-O.com. Now let's get back to the conversation.

Noah Newman:

I remember you told me your planter model. What kind of harvester do you have?

Bryan Severs:

[inaudible 00:14:20], combines. That year would've been a 750 [inaudible 00:14:25] with a MacDon bean platform.

Noah Newman:

Is there anything unique or something you're paying attention to during that time period to get ready for harvest?

Bryan Severs:

Just trying to keep an eye on buck pressure or disease pressure or anything like that? If there is something, then we go out there and hit it. You don't want to lose that potential throughout the year. Obviously early planning is the key too. That's why we have two planters. Start on corn and beans at the same time, or beans before corn, hardly anymore. It seems like that's what we do. But yeah, early planning is the key to high yielding soybeans also. There's no doubt about that.

Noah Newman:

Yeah, I hear that a lot more people are trying to plant early. You just have to wait for the ground to warm up?

Bryan Severs:

Yeah, I think you should, but we're putting a bunch of different seed treatments on our beans to help them. If you're planting, it's not 50 degrees yet. Seed treatment is a big key too for early planted soybeans.

Noah Newman:

What are all the specific brand or names of the seed treatments for that field?

Bryan Severs:

That was a [inaudible 00:15:42]. That would've been the seed treatment that my dealer, pioneer dealer would've put on them.

Noah Newman:

Overall, if you had a takeaway from that year, when you reached a hundred bushels per acre for the soybeans, just obviously weather had to play a big role in that too, but what are some of your just big takeaways and what really helped you achieve that kind of success that year?

Bryan Severs:

Spending money on the post applications of all the things. I mean, because we ran across that field more than we ever do with all the special stuff that we put in it, all that stuff. Herbicide, we do a pre before we plant, so we do a burn down obviously, and of course they're non-GMO beans. So then we do a trip in the post 21 days later, after they emerge. Yep. After that, then we do a fungicide and insecticide at R2? Yeah, R1 to R3, somewhere in there, but shoot for R2. So yeah.

Noah Newman:

So three passes man, the pre, the post and...

Bryan Severs:

Then we'll do a shot of... After that we do a shot of what? Of nitrogen and some feel good stuff.

Noah Newman:

Okay, I got you.

Bryan Severs:

So there'd be four trips. Yeah. Yeah. We might even have made five in that one, so I'd have to... I can go back and look at all my spray logs. To get that, you have to manage that field, in my opinion, more than you can a normal field, that you try for. That's the whole deal is trips across the field with all the different things.

Noah Newman:

Yeah. So you kind of have to keep it pumped up throughout the growing season.

Bryan Severs:

Yeah, keep it actively growing, reaching and early planting date, because that is the number one.

Noah Newman:

Yeah, I was going to ask you about that. So what was the planting date approximately for the?

Bryan Severs:

1st of April.

Noah Newman:

That's earlier than you would do most of your other soybeans, or do you plant all your soybeans early?

Bryan Severs:

Nope, that planter goes out the same day. As soon as mother nature says we can plant. Whether that be in March, 1st of April, end of April, 1st of May, when mother nature lets us, we roll.

Noah Newman:

Yeah. Then I've heard that early soybeans... Why is planting soybeans early, why is that the best way to do it, do you think?

Bryan Severs:

Just more sunlight, more days, more days of it, able to grow with the sunlight and utilize photosynthesis and makes it all work a lot better. So the earlier you can plant, that's the reason for two planters. I mean, not go out there and plant corn first and then change it all over and do beans. That's the reason for two.

Noah Newman:

Yep. You mentioned you put the potash on in the fall. Is there anything else you do before planting that kind of gets the field ready?

Bryan Severs:

No, not really. I mean, as far as fertilizer or anything you mean, or no?

Noah Newman:

Yeah.

Bryan Severs:

No. Yeah. Nope, nope, nope. That's all we do. It's pretty simple. We don't get too crazy. We hope for 75 bushel beans every year, and we have not started yet, but they sure look awful good. They're really ones.

Noah Newman:

Oh, that's good to hear. Maybe you'll hit a hundred again this year.

Bryan Severs:

We might come close in one field that we did a little playing with. What we do is play with a field to see what works and how it responds, and then do an ROI to decide whether it was worth it or not. Doing that is important because sometimes the things you use don't pan out, essentially. But I mean, the biggest variable in all of it is mother nature, that she is in control and we just all do what we can with what she gives us. Like this year she gave us rain in the beginning and then she shut off for a month and a half.

Noah Newman:

It was rough there for a while for a lot of people. I know that.

Bryan Severs:

If it wasn't for the ratio that came through here, we'd probably be having a different conversation.

Noah Newman:

Wow.

Bryan Severs:

When it came through and dumped rain on us, it was just in time. Yeah. We had wind and had damage on buildings and trees, et cetera, but we were very, very lucky to have gotten that at the time, so it didn't look like it as it was coming across and it was windy. That's what saved our yields this year in this area, and probably a lot of areas through Central Illinois as we come across.

Noah Newman:

Interesting. I just remember seeing a picture of a farmer's field in Auburn where his corn was completely flattened from the derecho. Yeah.

Bryan Severs:

Yeah. See, we didn't get that. We didn't get that, but thank God, but it was windy, but luckily we didn't get the flat fields, which yeah, there is some of them around that it happened to. That's for sure.

Noah Newman:

What's your ultimate no-till truth, something about no-till that's key to making it really work. Anything come to mind?

Bryan Severs:

Well, and I'll go back to just helping us get things done. I mean, that's what makes it work. We're saving the soil and helping cut down on carbon usage, because we're not out there running the tractors over it three times. That's becoming a big deal. That's why I'm trying the cover crop. But just taking baby steps on that, baby steps because from what I keep learning that it takes four years to get it around. Well, you can't afford to lose money for four years to get it back to where it was. I mean, of course the government might make us do it this way. I mean, I've been overseas with Soybean Association and seeing how some of those people are regulated by the government. We're fortunate here, but that'll probably happen here sooner or later. European Union's pretty hard on people over there about what you can apply and when you can apply it and everything else.

Noah Newman:

That would make it challenging, I'm sure.

Bryan Severs:

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, we try to keep things as simple as possible, so no-till has made that easy for us, in my opinion.

Noah Newman:

Well, you mentioned that you like to try something a little new on certain fields every year. Is there anything new you're looking to try next year or anything on the horizon?

Bryan Severs:

No, not necessarily. We'll wait and see what seed dealers suggest. We do business with Helena here in Danville, and they've always got ideas to try and we kind of take the salesperson's word on things, and that's how we try it, then from their suggestions. So they haven't come up with anything new for us to try for next year yet, but I'm sure they will.

Noah Newman:

No, there's always something new. Yeah.

Bryan Severs:

Yeah, there's always something you could try, that's for sure.

Noah Newman:

Have you used biologicals at all ever?

Bryan Severs:

Yeah, we tried to have a bio this year in corn. We have talked about something as such on putting it on the bean planter for some liquid when we first start planting. We haven't got to that yet, but we will have the capability to try that if that's the case. So I mean, that would be the next step is putting some sort of starter with the beans. I think that would be a high-yielding thing for us to try. We've talked about it, but have not got there yet, but that may be something that we add to the planter this winter and try some of that.

Noah Newman:

Yeah, I remember talking to a Pivot Bio guy at the Farm Progress Show a couple of years ago. It's pretty interesting what they can do. So yeah.

Bryan Severs:

It is, it is, and I don't know if it's a snake oil either. I'll give you a better answer here when I'm in the combine because we did a lot of side-by-side of that for corn, just to see how that's going to work. There's good chance that... We'll see. We'll see how it works. Like I said, we try things and we do have trials of it, and then we got the ability with the combines obviously, to map yield and know where it's at. So we're going to see if we can find those in the maps later. If the biological works, Pivot Bio, we did cut back our nitrogen use on those fields. So that would be a cost savings in the end too. Of course, that's corn, but yeah.

Noah Newman:

Interesting. Oh, do you have your own sprayer?

Bryan Severs:

Yes, we do. It's a [inaudible 00:25:01] ESD 21, two-year-old one. So we spray our own fungicide on corn also, tasseled corn.

Michaela Paukner:

Thanks to Bryan Sievers and Noah Newman for today's conversation. A video and transcript for this episode are available at no-tillfarmer.com/podcasts. If you'd like to learn more bin-busting, no-till soybean secrets, join me at the National No-Tillage Conference in January and learn from the dozens of no-till experts on the program. Go to no-tillconference.com and use code podcast when checking out to save $50. Many thanks to Yetter Farm Equipment for helping to make this No-Till podcast series possible. From all of us here at No-Till Farmer, I'm Michaela Paukner. Thanks for listening.